‘Justice League’ movie hopes to finally bring Batman and together on screen

If teaming up worked for Iron Man, Thor and The Hulk, it has to work for Batman, , and Wonder Woman, right?

Warner Bros. Pictures seems to think so, as Variety reported yesterday that the studio has hired a new writer to bring DC Comics' "Justice League" to the big screen. Just as "The Avengers" assembled the biggest heroes from Marvel Comics, "Justice League" would see DC's iconic characters joining forces to save the world. (DC Comics is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.) The fact that "The Avengers" is now the third highest-grossing film of all time with $1.3 billion worldwide seems to have reignited the fire to get the other legendary superhero team up on movie screens.
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Variety's report states that Will Beall, who wrote the upcoming "Gangster Squad" (starring Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin) for Warner Bros., has been hired to take on the screenplay. Beall previously wrote for TV's "Castle," but he has also been announced as the writer for new movie versions of "Logan's Run" and "Lethal Weapon 5."

While interest in a "Justice League" movie has certainly been rekindled by the record-breaking success of "The Avengers," the project has been in the works for several years. Director George Miller ("Mad Max," "Happy Feet") was hired for the film in the fall of 2007, with production scheduled to begin the next year for a planned 2009 release.

The original plan was to have a completely fresh cast of actors take on the comic book roles, separate from any existing franchise. Unlike "The Avengers," where the original stars returned, this would have a different cast (so no Christian Bale as Batman). At the time, Armie Hammer ("The Social Network") was attached to play Batman, with D.J. Cotrona as , Adam Brody as the Flash, and Megan Gale as Wonder Woman.

The Writer's Guild strike in late 2007 put a halt to the project, however. The production went into an indefinite hiatus, with George Miller moving on to a new "Mad Max" reboot, which is scheduled to start filming soon. In the intervening years, Warner Bros. released the disappointing "Green Lantern," with "The Dark Knight Rises" coming this summer and the new film "The Man of Steel" slated for next June.

That wasn't the first time Warner Bros. tried and failed to get DC's heaviest hitters together in one movie. In the early 2000s, the studio developed "Batman Vs. ," which would have pitted the two heroes against each other (though in the end they would team up to take on Lex Luthor). Josh Hartnett was rumored for , with Colin Farrell considered for Batman. But that was eventually shelved in favor of Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins."

Currently, there isn't a director, cast or release date for "Justice League," but summer of 2014 seems like it would be the earliest we could expect to see it. There are also a host of individual DC superhero movies in development, including the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Lobo.

It's also unclear if Warner Bros. still plans to keep the "Justice League" as a separate continuity from the standalone movies, or integrate them the way Marvel built up to "The Avengers." When Joss Whedon, the director of "The Avengers" was asked if he had any advice for the people making "Justice League," he jokingly answered, "Call me." He followed it by saying that it's harder to bring DC characters to the screen than Marvel since they are "from an old, bygone era" where heroes were less flawed and grounded. And Whedon would know, since he tried to bring "Wonder Woman" to the screen in another project that stalled out several years ago.

UPDATE: Mark Millar, the writer who created the comic books the inspired the movies "Wanted" and "Kick-Ass," posted on his official website MillarWorld.tv that someone he knows is friends with screenwriter Will Beall and got a peek at the unfinished "Justice League" script. Millar reported that the new take on the movie is "Very real-world and not at all what you might expect." He said Beall began working on the script before "The Avengers" hit theaters, and that the "tidbits I heard sound quite dark and mature, which isn't what I expected."

Sounds like a pretty lightweight cast they had planned. That isn't going to get anybody excited. The Wonder Woman they had planned has an acting resume of three forgettable minor movies in nine years.

I received a bit of intel here recently that involves the Batman on film reboot and the inevitable JUSTICE LEAGUE film.
It’s looking as a live-action JUSTICE LEAGUE film -- the one currently being penned by Will Beall for Warner Bros. -- just might be the studio’s first big, DC Comics-based tent pole movie after 2013’s MAN OF STEEL. This JL film would, possibly, hit theaters Summer 2015. So, exactly WHAT does this have to do with BATMAN REBOOTED? Read on…

Said reboot will come after the JL film, not before. Therefore, the new cinematic Batman will be introduced in the JL film as opposed to a solo film. This would, according to my industry "FOBOF," assure the new Batman film series will be part of a "DC Cinematic Universe."

Keep in mind that this is based on industry scuttlebutt, so take it with a grain of salt. However, if indeed true (And this FOBOF is solid as they come, trust me!) this is not good news for the solo Batman franchise in my opinion. I’d like the next director of the rebooted cinematic Batman to have more creative control over the character -- something that’s not likely to happen of this scenario plays out.

I have some very strong opinions about this that I shall reserve for an op-ed piece in the near future.

Now someone like Dr. Strange would kick the shit out of superman since he is weak to magic..

What would be a toss-up, a superhuman free-for-all? If we're talking that, remember Thor's hammer is magical as well, and I don't know that there's anyone in the Marvel Universe (short of all-powerful cosmic entities) that can take him out solo.

It's OK, I'm sure there's a Marvel heavy hitter out there somewhere that can take down, if you search hard enough. This is assuming that the contest isn't determined by who is the most compelling and interesting character, in which case is, of course, doomed.

I received a bit of intel here recently that involves the Batman on film reboot and the inevitable JUSTICE LEAGUE film.
It’s looking as a live-action JUSTICE LEAGUE film -- the one currently being penned by Will Beall for Warner Bros. -- just might be the studio’s first big, DC Comics-based tent pole movie after 2013’s MAN OF STEEL. This JL film would, possibly, hit theaters Summer 2015. So, exactly WHAT does this have to do with BATMAN REBOOTED? Read on…

Said reboot will come after the JL film, not before. Therefore, the new cinematic Batman will be introduced in the JL film as opposed to a solo film. This would, according to my industry "FOBOF," assure the new Batman film series will be part of a "DC Cinematic Universe."

Keep in mind that this is based on industry scuttlebutt, so take it with a grain of salt. However, if indeed true (And this FOBOF is solid as they come, trust me!) this is not good news for the solo Batman franchise in my opinion. I’d like the next director of the rebooted cinematic Batman to have more creative control over the character -- something that’s not likely to happen of this scenario plays out.

I have some very strong opinions about this that I shall reserve for an op-ed piece in the near future.

Hopefully they will leave out that scratchy ass, raspy sounding cigarette smoking voice

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“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke

I feel like DC characters are far more powerful than Marvel, but Marvel's character depth is better.

The Justice League would stomp the Avengers.

Stomp, probably not. Beat, probably, if you use classic lineups. The front four of each group (/Batman/Wonder Woman/Flash vs. Thor/Iron Man/Captain America/Hulk) would be about equal, but I highly doubt Wasp and Yellowjacket could hold their own against Aquaman and, more definitively, Green Lantern.

If you use current modern lineups, it gets a lot more one-sided. The Justice League has basically the same lineup except with the addition of Cyborg, but the only classical Avengers left are Captain America and Iron Man, with the rest of their ranks taken up by Hawkeye, Red Hulk, Vision, Spider-Woman, and Quake, who would get wiped by the Justice League veterans.

Now, if you add in all of the splinter groups, then the advantage swings back to Marvel, whose Secret Avengers and New Avengers include the likes of the Thing, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Venom, Iron Fist, Luke Cage; basically most of the Marvel Universe's heavy hitters. Justice League International and Justice League Dark's rosters, on the other hand, read like the minor leagues - Green Arrow, Booster Gold, Hawkman, Zatanna, and so on. Ka-pow.

Stomp, probably not. Beat, probably, if you use classic lineups. The front four of each group (/Batman/Wonder Woman/Flash vs. Thor/Iron Man/Captain America/Hulk) would be about equal, but I highly doubt Wasp and Yellowjacket could hold their own against Aquaman and, more definitively, Green Lantern.

I think even with the top 4s the Justice League comes out on top pretty decisively. takes Hulk into space as previously discussed, Flash moves at the speed of light and disassembles Iron Man's armor before Tony knows a fight is happening and probably has time left over to punch Captain America in the face 1000 times. Wonder Woman holds off Thor until he throws his hammer, at which point Flash redirects it to Wonder Woman's hand (she's lifted it before) and she gets Thor's powers on top of her own. Batman's taking a nap or something.

Stomp, probably not. Beat, probably, if you use classic lineups. The front four of each group (/Batman/Wonder Woman/Flash vs. Thor/Iron Man/Captain America/Hulk) would be about equal, but I highly doubt Wasp and Yellowjacket could hold their own against Aquaman and, more definitively, Green Lantern.

Well that's why it would be a stomp. I'd imagine it would go down with Supes vs. Hulk, WW vs. Thor, Flash vs. Iron Man and Batman vs Cap. Flash would rape Iron Man but other than that those would all be good fights. Then it comes to Aquaman and Green Lantern vs those two chumps. It would get messy real quick once Flash, Aquaman and GL joined in and started pounding on Hulk and Thor.

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Now, if you add in all of the splinter groups, then the advantage swings back to Marvel, whose Secret Avengers and New Avengers include the likes of the Thing, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Venom, Iron Fist, Luke Cage; basically most of the Marvel Universe's heavy hitters.

All of these guys, with the exception of Strange and maybe Thing, would be useless. Honestly, take out Strange and add all those guys you just named; give the JL Martian Manhunter and the JL would annihilate the Marvel side.

Oh, no. wouldn't match up with Hulk; he'd match up with Thor, who would instantly overpower anyone else in the JLA, and he'd be lucky to get a tie. (Thor is a lot more powerful in the comic books than he is in the movies, and he's magical, which would give a big problem.)

Batman and Captain America are as evenly matched as any two are, and so basically negate each other. Flash would not beat Iron Man very easily but I could see him winning eventually, but then you've got Hulk vs. Wonder Woman. Either way, there's still the Green Lantern problem, so yeah. Poor, poor, tiny insect-themed Avengers.

And Martian Manhunter's not in the JLA right now. He would make a big difference, but if you open it up to past (or future) members, then it just gets a lot messier.